Bob Rosadini

Excursion- wasn't that the brainstorm of Jac the Knife?

Joe, RELAX. 150 mph is 220ft. per sec. Just think, a moment of distraction and you've gone 300'! I too drive NYC roads although I must admit, when I'm headed to Jersey I take the TappanZee to the Garden State because I have this fear of having a blowout on the Cross Bronx and being mugged by the time I got the jack out! Now when I go out on the Island, I can't imagine doing 80 on the Cross Island, never mind 150. I agree on the traffic issues as a constraint but the road conditions are another factor. Bottom line, what cop ANYWHERE has a need to hit 150? On the subject of the CV, mine turned 213,000 last night. I have a new one on order and as tempting as a loaded 500 was with all the gadgets AND AWD, I just could't see myself doing a 500 mile day with my size 13's jamed into that narrow footwell. Legroom the same? Yes- but you can't beat the comfort of being able to move around a bit. And the CV lets you do that.

I also posted this question on theTech thread. Can anyone (probably an STAP employee) tell me if the Sport (41K) has the same "dull" exhaust as the 41g? If so I would assue most economical route would be a set of Flowmasters rather then Marauder part nos. -right? One thing I will say, the 2000 41G I have now was delivered 10/99. 213,000 miles and 7 salt infested New England winters later it is still solid as a rock! TOPGUN! If you read this, after you sent me word you were shutting down and my build week of 8/7 wasn't going to happen, the next day I get a notice that the car was shipped! I'll keep you posted.

Nick- My question too. Assuming the models are all built in same plants- issue then has to be the various mix of models Ford vs Merc or perhaps it is the age issue. I think R Greene raises a valid point- I think some older buyers might be more inclined to live with a minor issue or to take care of it themselves. And we all know that the GM is the vehicle of choice of the "blue hair" set. In any case I have a new CV Sport on order- wish it had some upgrades but I'm sure a set of Flowmasters and chrome tips will make me FEEL like I'm driving a different one then my current 41G pkg. which is pushing 213,000 miles!

10-4- Enjoy your break.

Top Gun- Thx for the info. Originally I was told it should be at dealer byu 9/17. Then I checked out the lease cos. website and it had a build week of 8/7- I've had some long waits in my life- how abouit a 68 Torino square back, 428 CJ, C-6- but I was a kid then and a lot more impatient. I'm an old fart n ow so the wait won't be so bad. Thx again.

Topgun here it is 2FAFP74W97X112679. Black/Charcoal Thx for your interest.

[i mean the fleet Vicky, not the PI, should sticker for just about as much as the fleet Taurus. What happens if Ford sees a boost in demand for the Crown Vic, just because it's going to be cheaper than the Five Hundred and more available than the Fusion? Richard, Good point. In my mind once again its all about what Ford does from a marketing point of view. There is no doubt the car is a hell of a value. Iwould also bet that its life cycle operating costs would be less then any FWD vehicle. As for mileage, again you are correct. I have one with the 41G pkg. which has 3.55 gears. It has 212,000 miles and it still averages close to 21 mpg-with 3.55's. My typical daily commute is 70 miles of which about 20 is stop and go city, 25 is x-way (75mph) and 25 is rural two lane. As for the value issue, I have an 07 Sport on order. Its a co. car and trust me- I'm saving the co. a lot of money over other cars I could have had. If Ford is smart, they would take advantage of STAP's capacity. IF they were smart!

Well guys/girls, I got a build week on my 07 Sport- week of 8/7. Do a good job for me like you did on my current one- pushing 212,000 and tight as can be. Pisses me off too that they haven't spent any money on it and while you will always get the die hards like me to buy again, how many new customers could you have with a small amount of upgrades and a little marketing. The car is a hell of a value and my 41G with 3.55 gears averages almost 21 mpg. One question- what's the logic of restricting the sport package to four colors? The grill issue??

Well, I can't pronounce his name never mind spell it, but it does appear that DCX is taking full advatage of this guys many talents.Not only does he have obvious managerial skills but the guy is a colorful personality as well who gets the consumers attention. If "Z" was in Bill's shoes, what do you suppose Dr. Z's response would have been to all the analysts who quickly jumped on the Ford quarterly results calling for prompt action. My bet is he would have said ..."We (okay maybe "VEE") have a plan in place and we will see it through." Billy on the other hand jumps up like a lap dog and immediately calls for more cuts! Yes sir, nothing like chopping the hell out of an organization to force your way to profitability! Some conviction would be nice right about now wouldn't it?u And on another note, Ford is criticized for plant utilization at the 79% level. Ok all you auto mfg. experts, what IS a realistic number? Seems to me 79 isn't bad. If its much closer to 100, what is your ability to respond to upturns in the cycle? If only demand were in a flat line!.

As I have posted before, Ford has had Transits in test fleets here at least three years ago. I think the key difference between the Transit/Sprinter and the E seriesd is engine choices- small diesels in the Transit/Sprinter and gas V-8 power or Power Strokes in the E series. One sips fuel, the other two drink it. But if you are running max GVW and or pushing a lot of wind resistance with a box, you are not going to be happy with a small block diesel. DCX's decision was easy- lousy sales with the outdated Ram- what was there to loose. ford on the other hand does very well still with the E. Would the Transit be a nice compliment? Yes. However as with everything else, only so much money to go around. Bigger question I have, is what is with the LCF? I haven't seen any real marketing yet. International is spending far more marketing dollars on their version. Perhaps that's good- let them get the bugs out of it on their dime! And I still sccratch my head over the decision to build it. Talk to any Ford dealer. the E-550 was starting to get great acceptance and what do they do? Kill it.

Sully- trust me- it doesn't get through the joints- if water could get through the joints- were talking groundwater- the opposite would be true and the pipeline would be spewing product as a matter of routine as it is always pressurized. In any case, the article you provided was a good one. As a further point, ethanol is such a problem with respect to water, that it is not added to the base gasoline (known as R-bob for 87 and P-bob for 93) until the tank truck is being loaded. It is then blended at a 10% ratio- or in the case of E85, an 85% ratio Also, when you get water in a service station tank, (conventional gasoline) it sinks to the bottom. The pick up on an underground tank is typically 3 or 4 inches off the bottom so you just routinely pump the water bottom. With ethanol, a little bit of water will drop out but once you get to a saturation point, the water will pull the ethanol out of the gasoline and it will fall to the bottom . You end up with ethanol, then water, then the gasoline which is no longer oxygenated. This is known as phase separation. A royal PITA! Solution- best one, pump everything out.

Diesel makes a lot of sense. What confuses me is the fact that Ford announces a reversal on the commitment to hybrids, then turns around and announces a major investment in a hybrid research center for Volvo. With ultra low sulfur a reality this fall, and with all the money Ford has poured into the Puegeot JV, it would seem Ford should be well positioned to make the move. E85? Makes a lot of sense in the cornbelt but until the problems associated with moving ethanol by pipeline are solved, the logistics associated with moving 85% of our gasoline supply by inefficient rail and truck arrangements will drive the cost of E85 up. In my book its not a realistic alternative for most of the country.

Nick, I would have to agree with SJ and a few others who echo the same thought. It would not take much IMO. The powertrain issue should be fairly easy. The front and rear clips should not be all that difficult. Again, would a complete platform change be nice? Of course, but understnding the need to spread the development bucks around, I still say a small investment would bring big returns. As I have previously said, and we all know,the PI business pays the fixed costs to run STAP- at least I would bet it comes close. Anything else in incremtal sales is gravy. Last thing that no one has mentioned is MARKETING. There is NONE rght now. Think about the car- its bullet proof, accomodates a big family and a lot of "stuff" in the trunk, its safe- 5 stars worth-but the problem is NO ONE KNOWS THIS unless you are a prior owner. This should bean easy decision and a slam dunk for not a lot of money.

PItrippin. Good post. My 00 with the 41G package is pushing 208,000 and it is solid as a rock. Last mo. I averaged almost 22 mpg and remember the 00 41G had 3.55's. I'm about to order an 07 Sport, but really do wish they had made some changes- like get rid of the excess crush zones in front and back, give it a few more amenities- like driving lights, a light under the hood, etc. The car does not have to be the pace car of AARP! Unfortunately we all sound like broken records on this site. I can't believe the product planners are as blind as they seem to be.

999, Sounds like your group warranted a heavy hitter like Stevens to put on a presentation-that means they have clout. Sounds like you also got a lot of buzz words. Seems to me a group of dedicated annuitants who truly understand the situation could get a lot of action by involving the press. A few well placed e-mails to a guy like Dan Howes at the Detroit Free Press would truly pay off in the long run if you have a legitimate story that has to be told. And I'm sure that you and a lot of your fellow annutiants do have a lot of good insight as to what is wrong and also what needs to be done. I was reading a string of posts by people at KTP. If you believe 50% of what they write, it sounds like management still doesn't understand the reasons for Toyota and Honda's success. I'm a firm believer of the power of the press. Guys like me- a stockholder and true blue loyalist -don't carry the weight that employees and annuitants carry. And as you annuitants don't have to buy into the party line, you guys can REALLY tell it is.

Let's hope the product boys really pay attention to the 66-77 Bronco-They captured the look with the concept, now they have to follow through with true off road capbility, decent road manners that make it an acceptable commuter and moderate cost. And as others have pointed out, a diesel will be the added attraction. Ford seems to be pushing small diesel technology in Europe- let's bring some of that over here!

Shamrock, You are correct. The PI business pays the light bill at STAP. A little marketing and every CV/GM sale would be gravy. The cars are bullet proof and are great value. I have a 2000 with the 41G pkg. In 2000 that had 3.55 gears. I still average over 20 mpg- with 3.55's and not too light a foot. Itsa Co. car and our fleet guy wants me to get rid of it- and get what??? I have 204,000 on itand I keep holding out that some improvements will be made. I maybe retired first!

At the risk of beating a dead horse, the car is one of the best values on the road. My 2000 (Co. car) with 204m blew the heater core last week. I had a Taurus for two days as a replacement- an 04 with 56m on it-a Vulcan no less. I think we paid around 20 grand for these in 04, and it too was good value. But I digress. My 2000 has the 41g pkg and 3.55 gears. I average over 20 mpg with a combination city/rural/highway at 75 mph. Thing is still tight. I can do 300 miles in a day and I'm comfortable. I had a Ford demo 500 Limited for a week- AWD, all the bells and whistles. Glad to be back in the CV- I can stretch out. What is wrong with this car? How much would it take to freshen it up? The cop car business pays the overhead at STP. Get some of the "crush zone" off the front and the back-hopefully add a "427" look, a few more tweaks on the interior, and a few more ponies, and maybe advertise in something other then the AARP Journal (not sure they do) and guess what, they might milk it for a few more years! It doesn't have to be a "geezermobile"!

There is no good news in the 2007 order guide. No mechanical improvements, no 3.5, and of course no mention of any styling changes- I guess frog eyes stay with us until 08's. :shrug: :shrug:

Good topic and a lot of valid points made on both sides. To this stockholder and loyal customer my theory is the no. 1 culprit ALWAYS has to be management. If things are out of control, whose fault is that? Did Ford give the store away in prior negotiations? I guess thjey did. Why did they? Because they had no stomach for a strike and were willing to fold their tent. Was Union leadership to blame too? I would say yes. It takes a tough guy to say "no" to the dues paying membership. But guess what. the pigeons are coming home to roost. To the UAW member who thinks he is worth 65 bucks an hour, think again- there are plenty of people in Toyota/Honda plants in this country who are quite content to work for less. Forget about the rest of the world. Look in your own back yard. Let's hope Ford is sincere in its desire to build a state of the art facility here in this country. And le't hope the UAW leadership has the balls to hold the line with that portion of the membership that fails to recognize its a new world. One last thing. Before someone flames me, I'm an old guy who has a college education and has driven an 18 wheeler at one time for my employer (Still keep my CDL and medical current) and also flown on the company Citation. I've spent my time driving through picket lines when the troops lost sight of reality and you know what?- it was tough and scary too. But in the end, its no different then raising your kids. Say yes to everything to avoid grief and reality and you end up paying the price for your failure to address the issues. I've been on both sides. Well enough of this- I'm about to get hell from "the boss" for not helping with Easter dinner! PS Ford management? Some great leaders and some assholes. My hope is that some day Jac steps off the curb in front of the last Louisville built at KTP. Poetic justice. Lets hope the new management is more focused on saving the company instead of their own ego and well being.

10% ethanol blends have been used for a long time. Connecticut and NY (Metro NYC only) mandated it two years ago. The current swithch to ethanol blends in southern NH, Mass, RI, NJ and metro Philly is industry driven to avoid the liability they would face if they continued to use MTBE. the bigger issue is we will pay. Ethanol will contitute 10% of a gallon. The problem is it can't be shipped in pipelines. So you are taking 10% of the gasoline out of the lowest cost distribution mode. In its place, ethanol will primarily be shipped by rail from the midwest, to east coast terminals wwhere some will be reshipped on barges while most will go by truck to the distribution terminals where it is blended as the tank trucks are loaded. Think of it, you have 10% of the volume in the huge Northeast market that will go from the most efficient distribution mode (pipeline) to the most costly- rail and truck. Prices will go up- bet on it. The ethanol industry is scrambling to build platns but they will not keep up. The oil industry is trying to get very high tariffs lifted on improted ethanol but the American ethanol/farm lobby is blocking that. Chalk this up to a victory of the American farm lobby, and the ethanol industry over the oil industry. As usual, we the consumers will lose.